KEVIN FLANAGAN is an artist living and working in Galway. For the past 18 months, he has worked with Enso, a group of six artists whose main focus has been to organise art events that exhibit work by local and national artists. The work ranges from performance art to installation pieces.

As a group, Enso has become interested in collaborating. Their upcoming events include Co-Lab--a one week experiment in collaborative practice taking place in Nuns Island Art Center Galway as part of the Tulca Season of Visula Art.

MIROSOFT -- Free (77 MB) download now on offer for Microsoft Acryclic, a tool providing "innovative illustration, painting and graphics" in "print, web, video, and interactive media".

x_ref125ws

CALLAN -- The experience of the Kilkenny Collective of Art Talent¹ offers important lessons for everyone involved in fostering creativity. The work in the KCAT studio involves mentors observing the creative process in real time. From their professional experience and consultation,² the staff knows the kinds of supports required to support this creativity, how to nurture it and confront it. During the past five years, KCAT has provided the context needed to bring art to a high level of fulfilment. Some of the best examples of this process appear in Visible Visions, a handsome 143-page glossy book.

Does Sci-fi really hold any particular meaning or value. What I mean to say is whether or not the genre is referring to a vision of the future or is it just conjured up from imaginative minds. I myself believe that it is a representation of what human society can achieve through progression of scientific and technologial endeavour. It is entirely possible theoretically to achieve feats of mass speed but all that is required is for innovation to be matched by a physical representation of the theories that scientists fire around every day. Our society has the knowledge to do what the movies do but stall at doing so because of other matters such as economic related aspects. It is a costly business but if we want to expand beyond our planet, we as a society must strive to do so and break the deadlock that is being repressed to one planet. Sci-fi gives us the ideas but these ideas are based on what knowledge we have of science although most people will struggle to believe this. Are you a believer sci-fi being based on possible achievements of the future? Feel free to post a reply on this site.

CLONMEL -- We have photo challenges running this academic term and first up is "modern." There are fine examples of "modern" resting defiantly outside of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Laanba's nomination from Houston feels like a winner.

DUBLIN -- I shared a Gallace moment in the Douglas Hyde Gallery today. It happened through layers of white oil on canvas that evoked a shared memory, captured by the artist in her quiet, fastidious way. The cavernous void of the Douglas Hyde Gallery swallows Maureen Gallace's paintings but not to the detriment of the artwork. For Gallace understates her craft as a matter of course and those who know her art understand the need to see it up close.

IRISH TIMES -- Art critic Aidan Dunne has traveled around to most third level graduate shows. He thinks "there is a tendency to take the old manual processes for granted. This may relate to the prevalent assumption that ideas matter more than their material expression, that content outweighs form, but it is a reckless assumption."

GOTHAMIST -- Village Voice writer Justine Elias thinks that "NYC subway grafitti on movie posters is always good for gauging public reaction. Along with some added moustaches, beards, eyeglasses, and blackened teeth (every movie poster gets some of that), I've seen one that now reads, 'RAISING HELEN'S BUTT.'"

HUGH LANE -- David Carrier will deliver a free lecture on "The Public Art Museum" in Dublin's Hugh Lane Gallery at 1900, Thursday, May 20, 2004. Carrier's lecture is one in a series that examines theories about current art practice, curation and the role of the museum in the 21st century.